Summer craft

Last Xmas, I received a new set of much needed baking trays. I had a shiny smaller tray that after a few rounds of cooking and dishwasher washing, had started rusting. Off it went to the craft pile for when I had something in mind. I first painted the tray with a few coats of black paint, then I remembered that Laurie had sent Tom a few newspapers from La Crosse with great shots of the Packers and thought of a way to use the pictures. I found some decoupage glue and sealer at Hobby Lobby and started on my craft.
Finished product:

My phone is just there for scale. This needs to finish drying and setting for a week or so. It may replace my very girly damask plate receptacle that is currently used to hold cell phones, keys, miscellaneous pocket items etc... Alternatively, since it is supposed to be water resistant, it could be used as a serving tray. We'll see - thank you Laurie for saving all the newspapers and sending them!

Week recap

The first week back to work after a being out of town is tough and goes by so quickly. 3 days worth of experiments failed late Friday evening, so my focus this weekend is to catch up on housework and write.
This week:
I actually started writing the thesis
Since I didn't get to celebrate 4th of July, we celebrated 14th of July - Bastille Day and pretended that the wine we drank was French - dry rubbed pork (Tom's work, was of course delicious), with broccoli, garlic mashed potatoes, and pineapple and roasted red pepper salsa
I found a new gardening buddy - it doesn't have a name
I helped Emily move in just about 3 hours - it was a great workout, prolly a week's worth! (just making excuses to not go to the gym, which incidentally I haven't been to all summer)
Looked at the budget, got groceries, and planned meals for the week ahead (look for another post)
 

Tasty Tuesdays - Bacon? On a Cupcake?!!!!

Found at Whole Foods, The King's Cake

Newport and Boston

We just got back from our (my first) trip to New England. I was at a conference in Newport, Rhode Island and took the weekend off (we had sessions on July 4th!!!) to meet Tom in Boston. We had a lovely stay with his uncle Mike and aunt Kate, including a night on the town with cousin Ben.
Here are the highlights:
Meeting a Nobel Prize winner (Dr. Jack William Szostak, 2009, Physiology or Medicine for his work on telomeres)
Meeting one of our lab's competitor and being scared that he will scoop us on our next paper
Meeting the woman version of my current mentor - she is amazing
Walking around Newport - a quaint little city, a retreat for the rich, with gorgeous views and a few historical sites
Seeing Mike, Kate, Sam, Ben and Luke (and of course Gracie and Mia, who reaffirmed that I will have a dog at some point in the future)
Walking around Cambridge and on the Harvard campus
Getting a feel of the location of the various research centers and hospitals
General sightseeing on our own in Boston and exploring on our own
Meeting up with my BFF Grace for a day/night, dancing and brunch included
Trying some awesome beer, including a tour of the Sam Adams brewery (looking forward to their winter beer this year)
Staying at a hip hotel smack in the middle of everything
The weather was awesome, 80-84 deg F with very little humidity
Amazing food - there's something for everyone there

In contrast, back in Birmingham now, where the temp outside is 94F and the house was at 89. The plants need some serious rehab. I have a laundry list of experiments for the lab as well as actual laundry.

In summary

Following Anne's post:
Excited about my first paper being accepted
Worried about finishing (my poster in time for the conference, my second paper, edits on the first paper, thesis writing)
Reading science papers?
Creating a puzzle and a collage map
Loving finding coupons that I will actually use ($1.50 off wholly guacamole anyone?)
Hating the hot summer (and the electricity bill that's $100 higher)
Wondering if I'll be able to find a job
Craving chocolate milk
Hoping to find clothes (pref on a deal) for the conference and to clean the house
Watching on TV Masterchef, reruns of House, Katie Brown
Listening to whatever is on the radio
Cooking cod and jalapeno poppers
Looking forward to Boston

Tasty Tuesdays Cravings Edition - Spice

The craving: Indian food. 

When: A few Friday nights ago. 

Options: Sitar or Taj. I had a coupon for Sitar. OR Wilson's (a store close to the house, where I had spotted some frozen Indian food, all sorts of spices and ingredients (they warmed my heart to know that I could find them so close to me), and Indian bread. 

For less than $20, I got frozen chicken tikka masala (chicken curry), navratan korma (nine vegetable creamy curry), paneer tikka masala (cheese curd curry), and onion paratha (onion stuffed bread). 

Tom really liked the dishes (and they were mild), and it tasted very close to what we would have found in the restaurants around here. I also said I would be an accomplished Indian cook when my tikka masala tastes like the one I purchased. Bonus, we had enough from these items for two dinners for two, and one lunch for one. The chicken tray only had four pieces of chicken so for the second night, I made some chicken and added it to the leftover sauce. I also saw that World Market was having a sale on their ready-to-eat Indian meals, and I had a $10 off a $30 purchase. I stopped by and got 4 meals, a set of buffet napkins (it's more eco-friendly, plus I'm not picking up a thousand paper towels after a meal with the ceiling fan on), some Twinings tea for lab, and some chili paste.

For my Mauritian comfort food, I turn to my spice pantry box and I'll whip up this: rice, red lentils, Mauritian chicken curry, and a veggie dish (in this case sauteed spinach). This is the typical Mauritian dinner (4-6 dishes) which awesome mom and dad would make in about 30-45 minutes. Of course, the lime relish (found at Publix!!!) goes with all these dishes, whether made from scratch or bought frozen.

Finally Friday

Maybe I'm just a huge science nerd, but I was totally amazed by the creativity of this lady: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/

Check out this post: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2009/11/biology-cookies-petri-dish.html

Tom and I have already talked about modifying this recipe for Janet's next party.

Speaking of Tom, he presented at lab meeting last Friday, and it is customary for the presenter to bring a treat. I had a cake mix ready or could make some oatmeal coconut crisps. Then we also had rice krispies - Tom without any hesitation wanted rice krispie treats (he LOVES these). A little bit of history, the only time I had those was at the UAB cafeteria and hated them (too sweet). Tom made me change my mind when he pushed me to make them for a previous lab meeting. I now eat the homemade ones, plus they are so easy to make!

Anyways, Tom was a bit stressed last week, between getting ready for the AZ conference (talk and poster) and presenting lab meeting. This welcomed him home late Thursday night:

Also, I had quite a chuckle when I saw this on the marshmallow packaging:

Garden Update

The balcony garden was driving me crazy ever since we had to put the tarps down. The tarps are wrinkly and the wood floor is uneven, and contribute to water pooling. Runoff water would run down to a part of the tarp and pool in different areas of the balcony instead of running off the shingles like it was supposed to. Even in the high heat the water would not evaporate, and when it did, it would leave a yucky crust. Enough with the whining.
On Saturday afternoon, I finally decided to re-arrange and Tom helped me devise a system to drain the water. The system is not completely successful, but at least the pools are contained in one area. By the time we were done, we were both dripping sweat, and I had some early signs of heat sickness (we're having an awful summer mid 90s everyday - did I mention that I hate southern summers?). While we now have a more defined seating area, we aren't going on the balcony except to water the plants.

The plants: the cilantro didn't make it. The aphids are still feasting on the peppers, but they haven't stopped the peppers from flowering. The marigolds are doing well, but the gladiolus don't seem very happy. I picked the last strawberries and there are no signs of other flowers on the plant. The lettuces are hanging in there, trying to survive the heat.

When the cat's away...

...mice play?
We prefer making our pizzas at home (love the bread maker with a dough setting - put the ingredients, press a few buttons, and come back later and the dough is ready). One of my favorite pizzas: bbq chicken. I can only get it when I'm by myself because Tom can't stand the idea of bbq pizza.
Awesome Tom is at science conference, so I get to play. I made 1/3 bbq pizza. The rest was a chicken, cheese, artichoke, and peppers pizza (inspired from Mellow Mushroom's Philosopher's Pie). Plus, I put mom on speaker phone while I was doing this, and by the time we were done talking, the pizza was done and cooling.While the dough wasn't as good as what Tom makes, cut and freeze for a quick dinner option.

Tasty Tuesdays Cravings Edition - Memorial Day

Every now and then, I will start a sentence with "Tom, I'm craving [food item]". He's a good sport and puts up with my cravings. 

Our friend Colm hosted a get together for Memorial Day just in time for my eggplant craving (weirdest craving yet). I can make a few eggplant dishes but for the party I wanted an easy finger food. I made these Eggplant Roll-ups inspired from a recipe from this book. Basically bake the sliced + seasoned eggplant (350 deg, 20 mins), then top with sliced roasted bell peppers and blue cheese. Secure with a toothpick. Eggplant craving = satisfied.

The weekend before the party, Create TV was running back to back Steve Raichlen shows, and we saw him execute jalapeno poppers. Tom thought they looked yummy, and I was quick to point out that we didn't have a jalapeno rack. He said we could make one out of a disposable foil pan (the website was down, otherwise we would have known about the option to make those poppers without a rack). Anyways feeling adventurous, I picked up an EZ foil pan (great couponing effort there), and voila!

Although I took out all the seeds, the ribs were still there and made these little guys super hot. Our friend Zak who LOVES very very very spicy food, had one and was crying and having hiccups. Tom had one, and towards the end of the party he was eating the upper part of these with Pringles. While these were tasty and the foil pan worked well for a little bit, I prefer the Packer Poppers.

For dessert, I made my version of a Patriotic Berry Trifle. There's a theme to my cooking: I find a recipe and change it to fit our taste, ease of making, or availability of ingredients. This dish allowed me to use my wonderful trifle dish from Santa (it's actually 5 things, like a punch bowl, cake platter, snack and dip tray, etc). Instead of making syrup, I dipped the angel food cake in coconut rum. The original recipe calls for cream cheese and heavy cream - I substituted these for Cool Whip to which I added some coconut rum (yes, I love Coconut Rum). This was a winner. Everyone had seconds, thirds, and made plenty for 6-8 persons.

Thanks Colm for having us over! Lime bars = winning. Leftover lime bars for a quick science pick-me-up = double winning!